Öküz Mehmed Pasha
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"Öküz" Mehmed Pasha ("Mehmed Pasha the Ox"; died 23 December 1619), also known as Kara Mehmed Pasha ("the Black") or "Kul Kıran" Mehmed Pasha ("the Slavebreaker"), was an Ottoman statesman, administrator and military figure of the early 17th century who held the office of Grand Vizier twice, the first time from 17 October 1614 to 17 November 1616 (during the reign of Ahmed I) and the second time from 18 January 1619 to 23 December 1619 (during the reign of
Osman II Osman II ( ota, عثمان ثانى ''‘Osmān-i sānī''; tr, II. Osman; 3 November 1604 – 20 May 1622), also known as Osman the Young ( tr, Genç Osman), was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 26 February 1618 until his regicide on 20 May 162 ...
the Young).İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish) He was also
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
from 1607 to 1611. Okuz Mehmed's nickname "Kul Kiran" (slavebreaker) came from his success in crushing the mutiny in Egypt during the early 1600s (soldiers were often known as kul or slave).


Background

He was of Turkish origin and was born in
Karagümrük Karagümrük is a neighborhood in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peni ...
district of
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
. It is reported that his father was an ox
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
.Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı, (1954) ''Osmanlı Tarihi III. Cilt, 2. Kısım , XVI. Yüzyıl Ortalarından XVII. Yüzyıl Sonuna kadar)'', Ankara: Türk Tarih KurumuMehmed Süreyya (haz. Nuri Akbayar) (1996), ''Sicill-i Osmani'', İstanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları ISBN 975-333-0383 C.IV s.44

/ref>Avcı, Casim, "Mehmed Paşa (Öküz, Damat)" (1999) ''Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi'', İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş. C.2 s.164 ISBN 975-08-0072-9 He was nicknamed "Black" and also given the nickname "Ox" by is enemies, based on the profession of his father. Before holding governmental positions, Mehmed Pasha had been a ''silahdar'', a high-ranking position in the sultan's guard. He married princess Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I), Gevherhan Sultan, the daughter of sultan Ahmed I and
Kösem Sultan Kösem Sultan ( ota, كوسم سلطان, translit=;, 1589Baysun, M. Cavid, s.v. "Kösem Walide or Kösem Sultan" in ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'' vol. V (1986), Brill, p. 272 " – 2 September 1651), also known as Mahpeyker SultanDouglas Arth ...
.


Governor of Egypt

Before his first term as grand vizier, Mehmed Pasha was appointed as governor of Egypt in 1607, a post he held until 1611. In 1604, three years before he assumed the office, the Governor of Ottoman Egypt Maktul Hacı Ibrahim Pasha was murdered by mutinying
sipahi ''Sipahi'' ( ota, سپاهی, translit=sipâhi, label=Persian, ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuks, and later the Ottoman Empire, including the land grant-holding (''timar'') provincial '' timarli sipahi'', which constituted ...
soldiers of his own troops. This event caused three years of instability in Egypt, with the subsequent two governors, Hadım Mehmed Pasha and Yemenli Hasan Pasha unable to completely quell the rebellion. When Mehmed Pasha came into office, his strong-handed methods and personality allowed him to suppress the sipahis and abolish the illegal '' tulba'' protection tax they had been imposing on the Egyptian countryside. After first landing at
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, he gathered public support by visiting the tombs of local saints and treating the
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s well, ordering repairs on Mamluk-built buildings and structures. He then proceeded to execute district governors who had allowed the sipahis to impose the ''tulba'' and warned others of the same fate. Tensions came to a head in February 1609, when the rebels gathered in the city of
Tanta Tanta ( ar, طنطا ' , ) is a city in Egypt with the country's fifth largest populated area and 658,798 inhabitants as of 2018. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia ...
and met at the tomb of
Ahmad al-Badawi Aḥmad al-Badawī ( ar, أحمد البدوى ), also known as Al-Sayyid al-Badawī (, ), or as al-Badawī for short, or reverentially as Shaykh al-Badawī by all those Sunni Muslims who venerate saints, was a 13th-century Arab Sunni M ...
, Egypt's most popular saint, to swear that they would resist Mehmed Pasha's efforts; they then began to gather troops and pillage villages for supplies. Mehmed Pasha also gathered troops, although some of his officers suggested diplomacy, which Mehmed agreed to, sending a mufti named Altıparmak Mehmed Efendi and an officer to negotiate with the rebels. The mufti advised the rebels to give into "those in authority," and upon refusal, Mehmed Pasha's forces began to mobilize. Mehmed Pasha's forces met the rebels just north of
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
. The rebels, discouraged, lost the battle, and the pasha's forces summarily executed over 250 of them, while others were later exiled to
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. In the aftermath of this event, Mehmed Pasha became known as ''Kul Kıran'' ("slavebreaker" in Turkish) for subjugating the Mamluks and the soldiers to Ottoman rule. He went on to promote public works and attempted to reform the fiscal and military organization of the Egypt eyalet, reducing the number of local
bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
s to 12, although this measure was later abandoned. In 1611, he was recalled to the capital
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
by the sultan.


Grand Vizierates

Mehmed Pasha was grand vizier from 17 October 1614 to 17 November 1616, and again from 18 January 1619 to 23 December 1619. While in office, he was usually called Kara Mehmed Pasha, the nickname "ox" having been invented behind his back (although he almost certainly must have overheard it) by virtue of his heavy build and his father having been a blacksmith for cattle in the
Karagümrük Karagümrük is a neighborhood in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peni ...
quarter of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. History retained this nickname rather than ''Kara'', which means "black" in Turkish and which may refer to one's complexion or hair or, in the figurative, to courage and daring. One episode during his time as grand vizier involved an attack on
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
accompanied with only 47 raiders, and without having informed the sultan or any other authority in the Ottoman capital; it ended in complete failure and nearly cost him his head. Some historians consider his foray as a third siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks, alongside the better known incidences, undertaken first by sultan
Süleyman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
in 1529 and later by grand vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha in 1683.


Governor of Aidin

In between his two terms as grand vizier, he held the office of governor of Aidin Vilayet (then a province covering a large part of western
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
), and his governorship is marked by the construction of a caravanserai in
Kuşadası Kuşadası () is a large resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast, and the center of the seaside district of the same name within Aydın Province. Kuşadası is south of İzmir, and about from Aydın. The municipality's primary industry is tour ...
, named the Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai after him, aimed at attracting international trade through the port there (which shifted, in time, much more towards the port of
İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
upon the preference displayed by
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an merchants). The caravanserai in Kuşadası is used as a luxury hotel and shopping center today. He has had another solid caravanserai built in
Ulukışla Ulukışla is a town and district of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It covers an area of 1,502 km², and the altitude is 1,427 m. Population is 22,728 of which 5,594 live in the town of Ulukışla. The town of Ulu ...
on the way to a campaign against the
Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–18), which eventually ended with a decisive Ottoman defeat.Prof.Yaşar Yücel-Prof Ali Sevim:''Türkiye tarihi vol.III'', AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, 1991, 43-44


Death

He was strangled to death in office in 1619 by a young
Janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...
whose favors he had sought.


See also

* List of Ottoman Grand Viziers *
List of Ottoman governors of Egypt The Ottoman Empire's governors of Egypt from 1517 to 1805 were at various times known by different but synonymous titles, among them '' beylerbey'', viceroy, governor, governor-general, or, more generally, '' wāli''. Furthermore, the Ottoman s ...
* Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmed Pasha, Kara Okuz 1619 deaths Pashas Civil servants from the Ottoman Empire 17th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire 17th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt Ottoman people of the Ottoman–Persian Wars Turks from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman governors of Egypt Year of birth unknown Damats